Do Network News Agencies Play Their Dominant Strategies? Empirical Evidence from Lead News Stories

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-1998

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Abstract

Do network news agencies (ABC, CBS, and NBC) play their dominant strategies in selecting the lead news story (cover story) for nightly newscasts? The present paper seeks an answer to this question by employing elementary game-theory analysis and simple logit/ordered logit regression models to examine the choice the network agencies make in selecting a nightly lead news story. While economic theory predicts lead stories based on company projections of events likely to be judged as 'important' to consumer-viewers (the dominant strategy), statistical evidence presented here suggests that deciphering the dominant strategies is quite difficult. This ultimate result is likely due to demander preferences that often drive liberal and sensationalism biases in the media.

Publication Title

Applied Economics Letters

Volume

5

Issue

10

First Page

623

Last Page

629

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